To more efficiently transmit electricity, a twisted pair conductor has been utilized by many utility companies. A twisted pair conductor generally comprises two standard, round conductor lines twisted around each other at approximately nine foot intervals. A twisted pair conductor is beneficial because it has lower maintenance, operating and inspection costs, a lower operating temperature, and reduces galloping. Further, a twisted pair conductor effectively resists wind induced motion in two ways. First, the constantly varying diameter due to the twisting drastically inhibits resonant vibration. Second, the low torsion stiffness of this configuration absorbs and dissipates motion causing wind forces. Common brands of a twisted pair conductor commercially available are T-2® and VR2®.
The use of the twisted pair conductor has consistently increased since its introduction. One problem inherent in the use of the twisted pair conductor is that in order to install a connector or other device directly to one of the individual conductor lines, the two twisted conductor lines must be separated by a given amount to facilitate the installation. When installed and in use, a twisted pair conductor has an inherent tension force due to the weight of the conductor lines causing sag between electric poles or supports, thereby resulting in a tension stress in each of the two conductor lines. In addition, a twisted pair conductor may be pre-tensioned to reduce its sag between supports. The tension stress in the conductor lines generally resists the separation and spreading of the two conductor lines. Further, because two conductor lines are twisted together to form the twisted pair conductor, the two conductor lines inherently resist separation. The inherent stiffness of each individual conductor line combined with the tension force makes it virtually impossible to separate the wires sufficiently by hand.
In use, the combination of the tension and twisting of the two conductor lines of a twisted pair conductor is such that an electric line installation or maintenance person will only be able to manually separate the two conductor lines a small distance, often only around one-quarter inch (¼″), using their hands. Any manual spreading, however, is of little or no use because the spread distance required to install connectors and other devices is greater than the distance a person can separate the wires using their hands. Further, because both of the user's hands are required to separate the lines, a two-person crew is necessary to perform any connection or other device installation manually. Thus, some mechanical means is necessary to allow a line installation or maintenance person to individually separate the two connector lines of a twisted pair conductor and install a connector or other known device.
Currently, line installation or maintenance personnel use a wooden stake, a screwdriver, or a hammer handle to separate or pry the two twisted conductor lines apart. All of these make-shift separators have negative aspects. All three require the user to push the stake, screwdriver, or handle between the two conductor lines with a substantial force to effectively wedge the tensioned lines apart. In addition, in order to remove these tools, the user must pull with a substantial force to retrieve the tool from between the two tensioned conductor lines. Not only is this method physically demanding, but this method of brute force operation poses dangers to users in the field, particular if they are suspended in a basket or by a harness above the ground. The force required may put the user at risk of losing their balance as the tool may slip or undergo other drastic resistance changes during the linear pushing or pulling. When a user loses their balance, they are not only in danger of falling, but also at risk of directly touching a live high-voltage electric wire and/or grounding themselves when trying to catch their balance. These conditions put the life of the line installation or maintenance person at risk.
Further, all of these adapted tools—the stake, screwdriver, and hammer handle—generally result in nick marks, scarring, dents, or other damage to the surface of the conductor lines. The scarring and nick marks result in increasing the resistance in the conductor lines and, in aggregate, can result in substantial energy loss throughout the transmission system. Further, a nick or dent in the outer surface of a wire creates a position of stress concentration which may result in a weak spot on the line that is more vulnerable to failure during an extreme weather event.
Therefore, a need exists for a conductor line spreading device that allows an operator to easily spread the two twisted conductor lines of a twisted pair conductor without exerting a substantial amount of effort and in a safe, effective, and efficient manner. Accordingly, an additional need exists for a conductor line spreading device that allows a single person to accomplish the task and that eliminates any scarring and nicking of the conductor lines to help maintain the efficiency and reliability of the electricity distribution network.